Pistons-Cavaliers Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMANPosted Mar 28 2012 12:12AM

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons are both rebuilding, and it's clear that their rookie point guards continue to provide excellent building blocks.

Both seem to be slumping now.

Kyrie Irving and Brandon Knight are the league's top rookie scorers and meet for the third time Wednesday night when the Cavaliers host the Pistons.

Irving was chosen No. 1 by Cleveland (17-30) and Knight at No. 8 by Detroit (17-32), and both teams have to be happy with their selections. The Cavaliers guard leads all rookies with 18.6 points per game, with Knight second at 12.5.

Cleveland has won both meetings against Detroit this season, with Irving scoring 17 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter of a 101-100 home victory Feb. 21. Knight had 24 points in the defeat, with seven in the fourth.

Knight is averaging 23.5 points on 72.0 percent shooting against Cleveland - his best marks against any opponent in his brief career. He outscored Irving 23-14 in a 105-89 home loss Dec. 28.

Irving, though, didn't look like himself Tuesday in a 103-85 home loss to Philadelphia, making 4 of 13 shots for 12 points and seven assists. He is averaging 13.7 points in his last three games.

"I have played a few games in the league now, so teams have enough film on me to know my strengths and weaknesses, and they are trying to take it away," he said. "They are doing a great job of that."

Detroit is feeling better about itself after ending a four-game slide Monday on Rodney Stuckey's winning 20-foot jumper with 0.2 seconds left. Stuckey returned after missing three games with a sore left big toe.

"Hard work is paying off. I'm constantly in the gym just getting extra shots up," said Stuckey, who made 9 of 20 shots. "My shot's just improving and I'm going to continue just to get better."

Detroit has split the first two games of a four-game trip. The club felt snake-bit on its last trip, losing in overtime to the Clippers and by one to Denver last Wednesday.

"It's nice to win in kind of a walk-off way as well especially since some of the losses we've had as of late," coach Lawrence Frank said. "Our guys showed some resolve and fight and found a way to win the game."

The Pistons will be trying to end a nine-game road losing streak against Central Division opponents.

Cleveland has dropped four straight, falling 6 1/2 games behind New York for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. The Cavs have fallen behind by an average of 9.0 points after one quarter in their last three defeats, which have been by an average of 18.6 points.

"It seems like that has been the formula the last few games, and to go along with that, it just seems like our guys have lost some confidence," coach Byron Scott said. "We have been through this before."

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Prince's 29 paces Pistons to 87-75 win over Cavs

By TOM WITHERSPosted Mar 28 2012 10:29PM

CLEVELAND (AP) Kyrie Irving's first season in the NBA has been unlike any in his life. He's mostly gotten used to the travel and the crammed schedule and physical play. One thing, though, has been hard to handle.

Losing has hurt Cleveland's rookie.

"It's definitely a learning experience for me," he said.

Tayshaun Prince matched a season high with 29 points and rookie Brandon Knight added 16, leading the Detroit Pistons to an 87-75 win over Cleveland on Wednesday night, handing Irving and the Cavaliers their fifth straight loss and pushing them further from the playoff picture.

Prince made all four 3-pointers and added eight rebounds for the Pistons, who closed with an 11-4 outburst after the Cavs closed within five.

Irving scored 20 with nine rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, which has dropped eight of nine and fallen from contention for the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs have gone 4-14 since beating Detroit on Feb. 21 to improve to 13-17.

"I'm still staying optimistic," said Irving, the league's presumptive rookie of the year who couldn't remember being on a losing team before. "We still want to surprise people."

Irving tried to bring the Cavs back in the fourth quarter and his jumper made it 76-71 with 4:08 left. But Knight hit a 3-pointer, Jason Maxiell grabbed a rebound and dunked and Prince backed Alonzo Gee down in the lane before dropping a short hook.

Greg Monroe added 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who scored more than 80 points for the first time in four games. Pistons starting guard Rodney Stuckey injured his left hamstring in the first quarter and did not return.

Prince is one of the few holdovers from the days when the Pistons and Cavaliers were among the NBA's best teams and battled for Eastern supremacy with epic playoff games.

The slender 6-foot-9 forward played with confidence and as if it was 2007 again as Detroit beat Cleveland for the first time in three tries this season. Prince made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the second quarter, when the Pistons outscored the Cavaliers 28-21 to take a five-point halftime lead.

"He looked like he did five or six years ago," Cavs coach Byron Scott said of Prince. "He really won the game for them."

It was a bounce-back performance against the Cavs for Prince, who went 2 for 15 against them on the Pistons' last visit to Cleveland.

"I've had some tough games here," Prince said. "I had some games where I've had 25 points and games where I had four points. There's never an in between. I've had some games where I struggled in this arena. It's a good thing I had a couple of layups early to get me rolling."

Prince's 3-pointer early in the third helped the Pistons begin to pull away, and Maxiell's jumper stretched Detroit's lead to 15.

Irving, who has been in a recent scoring and shooting slump, finally scored for the first time since the first quarter and the Cavs closed the third with a 10-2 run to pull within seven points.

Early in the fourth, Cleveland's Omri Casspi somehow flipped in a shot while falling backward in the lane to make it 72-67, giving the Cavs some life. But Prince responded, knocking down a 12-foot jumper and then ended a scoreless drought of nearly three minutes for the Pistons with a floater to make it 76-67.

Irving, who has been so strong in the fourth all season, scored four quick points, but Knight's 3 from the left wing was the dagger Detroit needed.

"It was a collective effort," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "Guys stepped up with us being short-handed. Everyone who played contributed to the win."

NOTES: The 75 points matched a season-low for the Cavs. ... Scott, who celebrated his 51st birthday, joked he now has a better connection for Dodgers tickets after close friend and former Lakers teammate Magic Johnson was part of group that agreed to pay $2 billion to buy the baseball team. Scott laughed when asked if Johnson asked him to kick in some money. "I don't want to be part of that stuff," he said. "That's all him. He wants to own LA. I don't even want a piece of it. I'm fine where I am."... Pistons backup guard Ben Gordon sat out with a sore groin. He sustained the injury Saturday against New York and was limited to six minutes Monday against Washington. ... Cavs center Anderson Varejao, sidelined since Feb. 11 with a broken wrist, hopes to play again this season and intends to play for Brazil in the London Olympics this summer. ...

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Pistons 87, Cavaliers 75

Posted Thursday March 29, 2012 12:37AM

By Brian Dulik, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Small forward Tayshaun Prince matched his season high with 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds, leading the Detroit Pistons to an 87-75 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Point guard Brandon Knight added 16 points and five assists for the Pistons, who were playing without Ben Gordon and lost Rodney Stuckey to a hamstring injury in the first quarter. Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving collected 22 points, a career-high tying nine rebounds and six assists, while power forward Antawn Jamison scored 17 points. The win allowed Detroit to move past Cleveland into 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

QUOTABLE: "Collectively, this was a super effort by our guys, especially being short-handed after losing Rodney (Stuckey) a couple of minutes in. Literally, everyone who played stepped up for us tonight."-- Pistons coach Lawrence Frank

THE STAT: Trusted veteran Prince turned back the clock in shooting 11-for-21 from the field, including 4-for-4 beyond the arc, and 3-for-4 from the foul line. In Detroit's first visit to Quicken Loans Arena this season, the 10th-year pro missed 13 of his 15 field-goal attempts and only had seven points. "I've always struggled in this building, including the last time I was here," said Prince, who played in three Pistons/Cavaliers playoff series between 2006-2009. "For whatever reason, I've missed a lot of open shots and had problems scoring. Tonight, it was a good thing I got two easy layups in the first quarter to get me going."

TURNING POINT: The Cavaliers, who trailed by 15 points in the third quarter, pulled within 76-71 at the four-minute mark of the fourth when Irving buried a jumper. Following a Detroit miss, Irving attempted a long 3-pointer that drew nothing but iron, allowing Knight to race to the other end and drain a three that extended the Pistons' lead to 79-71 with 3:04 left. Cleveland never got closer than six points the rest of the way. "Me being the same age as Kyrie and in the same draft class, it's so exciting to play against him," Knight said of his fellow rookie. "I was just trying to step up tonight with the other guys out."

QUOTABLE II: "Prince looked like he did five or six years ago. Tayshaun played extremely well and really won the game for them. He's won championships, so he knows how to put the ball in the basket when the game is on the line."-- Cavaliers coach Byron Scott

HOT: Pistons power forward Jason Maxiell had 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. He went 6-for-9 shooting, including two thunderous, right-handed putback dunks. "Our main objective offensively is attacking the rim," Maxiell said. ... Detroit center Ben Wallace made a game-high four blocks and grabbed six boards in 16 minutes off the bench. ... Pistons power forward Austin Daye scored eight points in 29 minutes. "I'm not going to lie, in the third quarter I was really sucking wind," said Daye, who logged his most court time since Jan. 30 at Milwaukee. ... Detroit center Greg Monroe had eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds, extending his streak of games with at least five caroms to an NBA-leading 76. ... The Pistons won back-to-back road games for just the second time this season. "We'll try and continue to build upon that," Knight said. ... Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson led everyone with 11 boards.

NOT: The Cavaliers equaled their season low in points and tied their longest home losing streak of 2011-2012 at four games. They also lost their fifth straight contest overall, making them 1-8 since March 13. "We're going to keep playing and we're going to keep fighting," Scott said. "That's the only thing we know." ... Jamison had one defensive rebound in 37 minutes, shot 7-for-21, and made three turnovers. He also was repeatedly victimized by Maxiell and Daye. ... Cleveland's starting lineup combined to go 22-for-63 from the field. Irving was the top marksman in the bunch at 9-for-19, but committed a game-high five turnovers. ... Thompson shot 3-for-12, all coming on attempts in the paint. ... Cavaliers power forward Luke Walton played 11 minutes, but his only statistics were two fouls and two turnovers. ... Pistons small forward Jonas Jerebko had four fouls and missed both of his field goal tries in 15 minutes.

QUOTABLE III: "This has been a tough stretch of games, and this is our fifth loss in a row. Everyone is down on us, but we just have to pull it together and continue to compete. I'm still remaining optimistic, and we still want to surprise people."-- Irving

GOOD MOVE: After Stuckey strained his left hamstring just 6:47 into the game, Frank called upon point guard Will Bynum and Daye to pick up the slack. Bynum responded with eight points and some quality defensive work, while the 6-foot-11 Daye gave the Cavaliers fits with his long arms and soft shooting touch. "Austin's length was a factor at both ends of the floor tonight, so it was good," Frank said. The seldom-used Daye played so well in the first half that he started the third quarter, temporarily shifting Prince to shooting guard -- the position usually manned by Gordon and Stuckey.

BAD MOVE: During his pregame press conference, Scott said "either Kyrie (Irving) or A.J. (Jamison), one of them has to be on the floor at all times for us to be successful." Once the contest began, neither starter was on the court for the first 2:15 of the second quarter or the opening 4:28 of the fourth. Though the Cavaliers were only outscored 10-8 during those timeframes, they lost all of their offensive mojo without their top two scorers in the game. "I kept them out at that particular time, just to see if the second unit could hold serve -- and they were able to do that," Scott explained.

NOTABLE: Gordon traveled to Cleveland, but did not dress for the game due to a strained right groin that he suffered Monday in Washington. The Pistons' sixth man received treatment at the arena, where he also was spotted watching postgame highlights on NBA.com. ... Frank said he had "no clue" whether Stuckey would be able to play Friday when the Pistons travel to Chicago. Stuckey sat out three games last week with a sore left toe, but only played five quarters before going down with the hamstring problem. ... Cavaliers guards Manny Harris and Donald Sloan -- both recent signees from the NBA D-League -- combined for 11 points and three assists in 27 minutes. Harris was playing for the Canton Charge, while Sloan was a member of the Erie BayHawks.